Snowfall
by IzziCat
Summary: Four Clans that reside on the far side of the mountainsSnowClan, LakeClan, LeafClan, and ValleyClanmust learn to cooperate if they are to survive the harsh winters and summers the peaks and valleys experience. Fan Clans, not official Clans Rating for som
1. Prologue

DISCLAIMERS AND SUCHLIKE

1. I don't own Warriors. (Unfortunately. Aw man.)

2. The Clans in this story are totally of my creation. I have not ready any other fanfiction of the Warriors series and thus if my clan names collide, I apologize in advance. Please realize, however, that it was not at all intentional.

3. All characters are copyright moi, IzziCat.

4. Please at least leave a note if you read this! I love getting commments. 

**Prologue**

MoonClan roamed the mountains that night.

A big gray tom led the eager group, his green eyes sweeping the snow-dappled rocks and the dead grass between before he would allow the rest to follow. Tonight, he had only brought along those of MoonClan who had once belonged to SnowClan: Windpaw, Swiftkit, Blazeheart, and Stormface. The two other warriors shepherded the eager youngsters along, and while both the kit and the apprentice bounded along in the snow, laughing and teasing one another, an unusually solemn air hung over the group. The landscape could not have meant them harm, and nothing could really be foreboding that would put them in danger.

They were dead, after all.

MoonClan was made up of warrior ancestors—ancestors of the four highland clans: SnowClan, who chose to make their home closest to MoonClan, towards the peaks of the mountains; LeafClan, who thrived under the dappled shade of the evergreen forest below; LakeClan, who were avid swimmers and fishers and claimed the clear, cold mountain lake as their own; and ValleyClan, who lived farthest from MoonClan but perhaps no further away, down below in the green, lush valley.

The gray tom suddenly paused, one paw lifted. His ears flicked back. "Shhh!"

Windpaw and Swiftkit instantly fell silent, their eyes growing round. Blazeheart sidled up to the gray warrior, her shrewd gaze searching the moonlit snow ahead of them. "What is it, Grayclaw?"

"We're at the camp," he mewed softly. "I need to tell you why I brought you." He turned his green gaze to her face. "Don't I?"

"It would be polite of you," the dark tabby replied dryly. "We've only been dragged from our nests at this strange hour and forced to walk all the way across the mountain tops to get here. I've been to the SnowClan camp before, Grayclaw. What's going on?"

A blink. "Let's wait until the others get here."

The pair fell silent until Stormface at last managed to herd the younger cats onto the rock where Grayclaw and Blazeheart were standing. The pale tabby cocked his head, and the gray splotches on his head stood out in the moonlight. "Grayclaw?"

"We've reached the SnowClan camp," he announced softly.

Swiftkit stuck out her tongue. "Duh! I knew that before we even got here."

Stormface batted her lightly. "Shhh. Respect your elders, missy. Remember the Warrior code."

A roll of her eyes, but the little brown and white tabby kitten fell silent.

Grayclaw twitched his tail nervously. "MoonClan can't stand by and watch SnowClan come to ruin."

A look of surprise, then horror, passed across Blazeheart's face before her shoulders slump and she looked down at the rock with a sigh. "We've been through this."

"It was decided at the council that MoonClan is not to intervene," Stormface said gently.

"I know, but…"

For the first time, Windpaw spoke up, his green eyes serious. "Your loyalties lie with MoonClan now."

Grayclaw glanced at the apprentice, then frowned. "You agree with the other Clan ancestors, then? Or have you forgotten the Clan that birthed you? Cared for you?"

An uneasy silence had fallen over the other four cats, and they avoided Grayclaw's gaze. Finally, after glaring at each in turn, the gray tom shook his head. "I'll warn them myself, then." He bounded off the rock, landing silently in the snow below.

Windpaw grabbed for the tom's tail, but missed and fell off the boulder. With a sharp cry of worry, Blazeheart dove after him, followed by Swiftkit and then Stormface. Grayclaw paused and glanced back, a smug look on his face.

Blazeheart shook her head firmly. "We can't, Grayclaw. We would be defying that which we now stand for."

"And by going back—by telling the rest of MoonClan—you betray what you first stood for!" The gray tom did not return, but his fierce glare was evident even at the distance. He whirled and threw a last barb over his shoulder. "Follow me if you want your mates, your children, to live."

Five silent cats crept into the hollow that was the SnowClan camp. Past the new warrior sitting on silent vigil, her fur a patch of blood against the snow. Past the nursery, where a newborn kit mewled faintly for his mother. Past the warriors' den, where soft snoring could be heard. And Grayclaw stopped in the center, pausing to let the other four ghostly cats catch up. He spoke in a half-whisper. "Swifkit, go to the nursery. Tell the queens. Windpaw, the apprentices have to know as well. Stormface, speak to the warriors." The three nodded their understanding and padded away, leaving Grayclaw and Blazeheart standing nose-to-nose, their whiskers almost touching.

Grayclaw thrust out his chin defiantly. "Stop me."

"I won't," Blazeheart meowed, her tailtip twitching. A faint smile crossed her muzzle. "Stubbornness is rarely seen as a virtue, Grayclaw, but there are a few exceptions."

His shoulders slumped with relief. "Thank you, Blazeheart."

"This does not, however," she added sharply, her eyes narrowing, "mean that I do not intend to report back to the council." Grayclaw's face fell, but she went on without pause. "What you are doing is in direct disobedience to their orders. However…" Now she paused to lick her paw and swipe it across her ear. "…I, too, am loyal to my clan."

"Please speak to the elders and the medicine cat," Grayclaw said, turning. "I'm going to tell Falconstar myself."

A flicker of moonlight, and he was gone.

Falconstar turned uneasily in the fresh pine boughs. Their sharp scent filled his nostrils—Shadowpaw must have brought them in recently, he thought in his half-sleep—but it was not as comforting as it usually was. Even when he leaned over to bury his nose in Sandshadow's fur, the smell of his mate was not soothing enough to allow him sleep.

So, finally, the leader of MoonClan closed his eyes and began to imagine his former days—as an apprentice, as a warrior, and as the noble Brightstar's deputy.

Eventually, he grew tired of reminiscing and opened his eyes. A blink of his golden eyes. He was standing in the center of the camp, the snow cold beneath his paws, the moon bright above his head, his whiskers tingling in the slight breeze. It was so real…

…but when he saw the ghostly gray cat stalking across the snow towards him, he knew that it was a dream. He started forward, and a name sprang unbidden to his lips. "Grayclaw."

The smoky-furred tom dipped his head. "Falconstar."

Falconstar's mind whirled. Grayclaw had been a young warrior, killed just a season ago by a cougar that had unexpectedly intruded on the SnowClan camp. In his bravery—perhaps foolishness—Grayclaw had chosen to throw himself in the way of the cougar instead of running with the kits and apprentices to the hiding cave. He could have made it in time; instead, the cougar's teeth had found his throat and the hunting patrols returned to his bloody corpse.

Now, here he was, his eyes full of the wisdom of MoonClan far beyond his years with SnowClan. When he spoke, his voice was rich life. "I bring you urgent news from MoonClan."

Falconstar drew back. "Me? I don't share dreams with MoonClan. You should have gone to my medicine cat. I…I don't know how to interpret them, I don't know—"

"Shhh," Grayclaw meowed softly, putting a paw to Falconstar's muzzle.

At the touch, the leader of SnowClan was thrown into a new scene, one that chilled him. He was standing on the familiar boulder just outside of the camp, fighting to see against a roaring wind filled with icy snow. When he managed to open his eyes against the blizzard, he could just make out the faintest outlines of cats—_his_ cats!—struggling along the cliff as they descended the mountain. Falconstar moved to join them, but as he did, one of the kits, bounding alongside its mother, spotted him and turned back, its eyes bright with joy. The wind caught it headlong and spun it over the edge of the cliff, wailing a horrible death cry.

Even as Falconstar lunged forward, keening his grief, the scene was gone and he was lying once more in the leader's den with Sandshadow breathing softly beside him.

Panting, the dark tabby looked wildly around the den. There was no sign of a ghostly cat, nor was there a shadow falling across the entrance. Slowly, his breathing slowed and he laid his head on his paws again. He would ask Firemask in the morning if she had seen anything. For now… Troubling as it was, he needed to sleep on the vision. Tomorrow he could speak with Ravenmoon. Tomorrow he could ask around, to see if any other cats had experienced strange dreams. Tomorrow he could worry about what the vision meant.

Tomorrow…


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter One**

"Claws in, Bramblepaw! Don't take her fur off!"

"Bearpaw! Eyes up! You let her get in position, you lose your life. Hey!" The big black tom bounded in between the snarling apprentices, his golden eyes boring into each of them. His apprentice, Bearpaw, got a particularly fierce glare.

The brown cat quickly looked away. "Sorry, Nightwind."

"Sorry isn't going to work on a real warrior, Bearpaw." Nightwind shook his head and made a noise of disgust in the back of his throat. "You get your fur clawed off, you lose blood…I've got your parents and Falconmoon to answer to. I'd rather not."

Swiftbreeze, her black-spotted white coat alternately melding into and standing out against the snow, brushed past him with a look of reproach that only he could see. "Good job, Bramblepaw."

Her dark tabby apprentice beamed. "Thanks."

"However…" And Bramblepaw's face fell. Swiftbreeze smiled. "You need to learn to keep your claws sheathed. You're going to be a great warrior—you're fierce and your heart is big." She licked him between the ears, and though he shrunk away, he was grinning. "But…you don't want to kill your Clanmates before your Naming ceremony."

"Nightwind! Swiftbreeze!" Into the snowbound clearing bounded another warrior, this one a big spotted tom. He dipped his head. "Sorry if I'm interrupting anything."

"We were just finishing." Swiftbreeze sent a glance at Nightwind that kept him quiet. "What's going on, Leopardface?"

"Is there an attack?" Bramblepaw bounded forward, his golden eyes wide with anticipation. "Do we get to fight?"

Leopardface shook his head. "Nothing that serious." His whiskers twitched. "Falconmoon seems awfully nervous, though. You think he's found out about—"

"Chhhht!" the black-spotted she-cat widened her eyes and waved her tail at him.

Leopardface shrank back. "Ohhhh."

"You mean the dream every warrior this side of ValleyClan had?" Nightwind's eyes were narrowed, and he made a face when Swiftbreeze glared at him. "I'm sure he knows—he probably had it himself."

Bearpaw and Bramblepaw exchanged a glance. "We had a dream," the tabby apprentice offered.

Swiftbreeze blinked at him. "You never told me."

"I know…" His tail was swishing on the snow as he looked nervously at his paws. "All of us apprentices had a dream. Well—the same one, really… And we promised not to tell any warriors."

Bearpaw swallowed, but added bravely, "'Cause we didn't want any of us to get in trouble."

"You will now," Nightwind growled.

"Hey." The she-cat warrior nudged him. "Don't punish your apprentice for protecting her Clanmates. Loyalty is not something to be ashamed of."

"But you had a dream too?" Bramblepaw's eyes were bright.

A too-casual shrug from Swiftbreeze. "Sure. It's probably not the same one, though."

The apprentices exchanged a glance, but before either one could speak, Leopardface coughed. "The meeting…?"

Falconmoon's powerful voice was swallowed by the snow as he leapt onto the boulder and yowled a command to his Clan. "Cats of SnowClan! Gather."

Out of the nursery cavern came the queens, shepherding their kits forward. Nightwind shot Swiftbreeze a surprised glance. "Even the kits are coming?"

She shrugged, then twitched her tail. "I'm sure Falconmoon will tell us. Now shhhh!"

The dark tabby leader of SnowClan cleared his throat. "Last night, I had a strange dream."

Instantly the cats broke into half-hushed conversation. Falconmoon waited for a moment, then stamped his paw for silence. "I spoke with Ravenmoon—he, too, had a similar dream. And from your reaction I'm guessing that we were not the only ones." His eyes came to rest on his predecessor, now the elder Brightgaze, and one brow rose expectantly.

The red and white cat dipped her head in agreement and stepped forward. "We elders shared a vision last night. Perhaps it is not the same as yours."

"Tell us," Falconstar meowed, settling with his tail curled over his paws.

Brightgaze drew herself up with all of old dignity and pride and spoke in a voice that was still clear and commanding. "In our dream—I speak as though we shared one dream, for I believe that we did—we were visited by Blazeheart." Murmurs ran through the Clan again, and Brightgaze calmly waited until it abated. "Most of you may not remember her, though you have most likely heard tales of our dear Lostpelt's beloved mate. Needless to say, she has been gone for many seasons, and no cat in SnowClan has been visited by her before." Something changed in her demeanor. "It is rare for cats who were not once leaders or medicine cats to bring a message from MoonClan. However…her message was as troubling as her appearance."

Here Falconmoon lifted his tail to silence her. "I think that I can finish for you, Brightgaze, with all due respect. I would like to relate this to my cats." She nodded her agreement, and the dark tabby tom continued: "In my vision, I was visited by Grayclaw." This time, the ensuing talk rose to a hubbub, and Falconmoon's deputy, Palewinter, had to raise her voice to an unaccustomed pitch to silence them. Falconmoon nodded his thanks and went on. "His recent passing was disturbing—but perhaps not as disturbing as the vision he gave me. He touched me with his paw, and I was suddenly standing here, on the boulder, watching my Clan struggle through a blizzard. A kit…a kit fell to its death over a cliff."

Gasps from the queens. One of them, the pretty white she-cat named Blueclaw, hovered over her kits protectively as she cried shrilly, "I had the same vision! It was not one of my kits…it was one that has not yet been born. But we were visited by Swiftkit." Her gaze shot to Springfire, the dark tabby queen beside her, whose head was bowed in grief.

"We warriors saw Stormface," Swiftbreeze said softly. Brightgaze let out a tiny gasp.

"And us apprentices had the same dream. Only we saw Windpaw," Lostpaw, the white, three-legged she-cat apprentice, added.

On the boulder, Palewinter looked down at her paws.

A black pelt and white paws suddenly appeared beside Falconmoon and his deputy, and the young medicine cat, Ravenmoon, meowed in his melodic voice, "MoonClan seems to be concerning themselves with our affairs much as of late. However…"

The clearing was silent. Every cat was leaning forward to hear what he had to say.

"…the cats they are sending to bring us this seemingly vital message are ordinary cats. Warriors. Apprentices. Kits. This is unusual."

"MoonClan has always sent us leaders and medicine cats before," Falconmoon said, half to Ravenmoon and half to himself.

A snort sounded from beneath the boulder, and Falconmoon leaned over the edge to see Firemask, her fierce green eyes blazing first at him, then around the gathered cats. "Apologies if I sound blunt here, but do you all honestly think this is for real? I had no such vision last night."

"You were keeping vigil," Ravenmoon reminded her softly.

Firemask whirled around. "Oh? And were you watching me to see if I stayed awake? I thought not." A careless shrug. "I was. But that doesn't mean I wouldn't have received the vision." Her head swiveled, and her gaze came to rest on a little white and tan-spotted kit.

Shortkit shuffled her paws. "I…"

"Tell them." Firemask's voice was deadly cold.

Shortkit lifted her purpley-blue eyes and tossed her head slightly, as if gathering herself. Then she addressed Falconmoon directly. "Sir, I haved a dream last day."

Falconmoon glanced over the youngster's head at her mother, Blueclaw, who nodded. "Yesterday she had a dream."

The SnowClan leader nodded. "Go on."

Shortkit glanced up at her mother for support, and Blueclaw nosed her gently. "Tell Falconmoon what you saw."

"And how," Firemask added.

The kit swallowed. "I was running, sir, and I tripped and hitted my head and then I seed a cat I never seed before."

Falconmoon's brow rose.

"She described the cat to me," Firemask mewed. "I believe it was Swiftkit."

A tiny cry from Springfire, and the dark tabby queen turned to bury her face in Blueclaw's shoulder. Shortkit, meanwhile, had retreated beneath her mother again.

"She had this vision when she was awake, is what this all means." Firemask began to pace, her striped tail flicking back and forth. "I could have had a vision while I sat there. Did I? No."

"So that leaves one SnowClan cat who didn't have the dream," Palewinter meowed quickly. "That doesn't change its validity."

Falconmoon's eyes suddenly narrowed as he again swept the cats gathered below him with his gaze. "Where's Shadowpaw?"

A muted commotion as cats questioned one another and exchanged information on when the apprentice had last been seen. Near the rear of the crowd, Nightwind chuckled humorlessly. "That little brat probably ran himself off a cliff. Just like in the vision. At least—well. We can always hope."

Swiftbreeze's green eyes were dark with anger. "Say that again and I'll take your throat out. That's our leader's apprentice you're talking about."

"More like his spoiled milk-soaked little _pet_," the black tom spat. "I swear, if that hawk dung-brained little _idiot_ ever insults me again, I—"

"It's Hawkpaw! Hawkpaw!" Leopardface had turned around and was bleating out the name, his eyes dancing with unconcealed excitement.

The two warriors also turned to see a big, handsome golden tabby striding across the snow, Shadowpaw bounding along beside him. It was clear from the apprentice's body language that Shadowpaw was proud of himself, and also very much in awe of the stranger. It wasn't hard to see why.

Swiftbreeze leaned towards Nightwind's ear as the two cats passed. "Wonder what he's been feeding himself on these past moons." She did not try to hide the admiration in her voice.

Nightwind let a tiny snarl slip from between his clenched lips. "Probably stolen SnowClan warm-meat."

Now all eyes were on the golden tabby as he picked his way coolly through the parting ranks of SnowClan cats. Shadowpaw broke away as he caught Falconmoon's dark stare, leaving Hawkpaw—the golden tom—to stand in a rough circle beneath the boulder.

For a long, painful moment, no one spoke. Even the kits had stopped mewling complaints about the cold morning and their empty bellies. Palewinter shifted slightly beside Falconmoon, but besides the deputy's movements every cat was still.

Finally, slowly, Falconmoon spoke. "Hawkpaw. I feel the need to challenge your being back in the SnowClan camp."

The golden tabby shrugged his shoulders quite regally and blinked green eyes up at SnowClan's leader. "I'm sorry that you have such obligations heaped upon you. My mother—" His gaze wandered to Brightgaze, but quickly returned, wide with false innocence, to Falconmoon's face. "—would never had found such requirements in need of fulfillment. I seem to recall the position of SnowClan leader as being a noble and difficult one—not one fraught with petty responsibilities as these."

The lightest of titters ran through the gathered cats, but most who found Hawkpaw's comments comical kept their amusement to themselves. Falconmoon's golden gaze burned into the loner. "Oh, really? Then I suggest you run back to whatever little musty cave you cower in during the day. Because one of those noble tasks you mentioned is keeping my Clan's camp free of intruders."

Another careless shrug. "Then…" And Hawkpaw turned to regard Shadowpaw. "'pologies, little apprentice. I hadn't realized your mentor wouldn't want to hear about my vision."

He stood and paced through the ranks of cats again, gracing Swiftbreeze with a roguish wink as he passed.

"Wait!"

Hawkpaw did not stop at Falconmoon's commanding word; however, his ears flicked back.

"Wait. If—if you had a dream from MoonClan, Hawkpaw, then…" Falconmoon's voice sounded as though he were dragging every word across the stones that often crumbled away from the mountainside. "Then I suppose we need to speak with you."

The golden tabby turned, a wide smile on his face that was not fully genuine nor fully malicious. "Ahhh. The hospitality of SnowClan wins the day again. In your den, perhaps?"


End file.
